Dr Jaco Baas

Reader in Ocean Sciences

Contact info

Position: Reader

Room: 305 Craig Mair

Phone: 01248 382894

E-mail: j.baas@bangor.ac.uk

Web: Google Scholar, ResearchGate

I am Reader in Fine Particle Dynamics in the School of Ocean Sciences, and specialise in the erosion, transport, and deposition of fine, cohesive sediment. I graduated from the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands) with a combined BSc/MSc in Sedimentary Geology in 1988. At the same university, I completed my PhD in Bedform Dynamics in 1993. Subsequently, I was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Geomar Research Centre in Kiel, Germany (studying Late-Pleistocene climate signals in slope sediments from the North-Atlantic continental margin), at the University of Rouen, France (on resuspension processes in the Seine estuary and gravel mining in the English Channel), and at the University of Bergen, Norway (investigating grain orientations in turbidite deposits).

In 1998, I moved to the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, where I started as a Marie Curie Research Fellow and then became a Senior Research Fellow. My research in Leeds included the physical properties of particulate density currents and their deposits and the dynamics of turbulence-modulated flows carrying cohesive clay particles. I took up my present post in Bangor in January 2007.

I am a process sedimentologist with more than 25 years of experience in sediment transport in fluvial, shallow marine, and deep-marine environments. My main fundamental and applied research interests include physical and biological cohesion in fine-grained sediment, the dynamics of sedimentary bedforms, and sediment gravity flows in the deep ocean, but my expertise also stretches to hydraulic engineering, palaeoclimatology, and mathematical modelling. I combine experimental research with field work to answer timely research questions, taking a blue-skies approach as well as collaborating with industry.

Research Area

Sediment Dynamics and Morphology

  1. Published

    Bedform migration in a mixed sand and cohesive clay intertidal environment and implications for bed material transport predictions

    Lichtman, I. D., Baas, J. H., Amoudry, L. O., Thorne, P. D., Malarkey, J., Hope, J. A., Peakall, J., Paterson, D. M., Bass, S. J., Cooke, R. D., Manning, A. J., Davies, A. G., Parsons, D. R. & Ye, L., 15 Aug 2018, In: Geomorphology. 315, p. 17-32 66 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  2. Published

    The pervasive role of biological cohesion in bedform development

    Malarkey, J., Baas, J. H., Hope, J. A., Aspenden, R. J., Parsons, D. R., Peakall, J., Peterson, D. M., Schindler, R. J., Ye, L., Lichtman, I. D., Bass, S. J., Davies, A. G., Manning, A. J. & Thorne, P. D., 6 Feb 2015, In: Nature Communications. 6, 6257

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  3. Published

    Coupling flow and deposit properties of partly cohesive high-density turbidity currents: An experimental approach.

    Manica, R., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Maestri, R. D. & Borges, A. O., 1 Jan 2008.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  4. Published

    Non-cohesive, mixed and cohesive high-density turbidity currents: Flow and deposit properties inferred from laboratory experiments.

    Manica, R., Baas, J. H., De Oliveira Borges, A. L., Maestri, R. D., Peakall, J. & McCaffrey, W. D., 1 Jan 2006.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  5. Published

    Spatio-temporal evolution of velocity structure, concentration and grainsize stratification within experimental particulate gravity currents.

    McCaffrey, W. D., Choux, C. M., Baas, J. H. & Haughton, P. D., 1 Jun 2003, In: Marine and Petroleum Geology. 20, 6-8, p. 851-860

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  6. Published

    The hiding-exposure effect revisited: A method to calculate the mobility of bimodal sediment mixtures

    McCarron, C. J., Van Landeghem, K. J. J., Baas, J. H., Amoudry, L. O. & Malarkey, J., Apr 2019, In: Marine Geology. 410, p. 22-31

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  7. Published

    On the origin of chevron marks and striated grooves, and their use in predicting mud bed rheology

    McGowan, D., Salian, A., Baas, J., Peakall, J. & Best, J., Feb 2024, Sedimentology, 71, 2, p. 687-708 22 p.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

  8. Published

    The role of biophysical cohesion on subaqueous bed form size

    Parsons, D. R., Schindler, R. J., Hope, J. A., Malarkey, J., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Manning, A. L., Ye, L., Simmons, S., Paterson, D. M., Aspden, R. J., Bass, S. J., Davies, A. G., Lichtman, I. D. & Thorne, P. D., 28 Jan 2016, In: Geophysical Research Letters. 43, p. 1566-1573

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  9. Published

    Behaviour of fully ponded turbidity currents in confined basins: An experimental study.

    Patacci, M., McCaffrey, W. M., Haughton, P., Baas, J. H. & Keevil, G., 1 Jan 2006.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  10. Published

    Flow behaviour of ponded turbidity currents: an experimental study.

    Patacci, M., McCaffrey, W. M., Haughton, P., Baas, J. H. & Keevil, G., 1 Jan 2008.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  11. Published

    Visualizing the flow fields of sediment-laden density currents.

    Peakall, J., Best, J. L., Baas, J. H. & Al-Musallami, Z., 1 Jan 2000.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  12. Published

    An integrated process-based model of flutes and tool marks in deep-water environments: implications for palaeohydraulics, the Bouma sequence, and hybrid event beds

    Peakall, J., Best, J., Baas, J. H., Hodgson, D. M., Clare, M. A., Talling, P. J., Dorrell, R. M. & Lee, D. R., Jun 2020, In: Sedimentology. 67, 4, p. 1601-1666 66 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  13. Published

    Sediment Composition Influences Spatial Variation in the Abundance of Human Pathogen Indicator Bacteria within an Estuarine Environment

    Perkins, T. L., Clements, K., Baas, J. H., Jago, C. F., Jones, D. L., Malham, S. K. & McDonald, J. E., 14 Nov 2014, In: PLoS ONE. 9, 11

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  14. Published

    Sticky stuff: Redefining bedform prediction in modern and ancient environments

    Schindler, R. J., Parsons, D. R., Ye, L., Hope, J. A., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Manning, A. J., Aspden, R. J., Malarkey, J., Simmons, S., Paterson, D. M., Lichtman, I. D., Davies, A. G., Thorne, P. D. & Bass, S. J., 27 Mar 2015, In: Geology.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  15. Published

    Detection and quantification of suspension concentrations and sedimentation layers in channel flows using electrical resistance tomography.

    Schlaberg, H. I., Baas, J. H., Wang, M., Best, J. L., Williams, R. A. & Peakall, J., 1 Jan 2005.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  16. Published

    Electrical resistance tomography for suspended sediment measurements in open channel flows using a novel sensor design.

    Schlaberg, H. I., Baas, J. H., Wang, M., Best, J. L., Williams, R. A. & Peakall, J., 1 Oct 2006, In: Particle and Particle Systems Characterization. 23, 3-4, p. 313-320

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  17. Published

    Detection and quantification of suspended sediment concentration and stratification in open channel flows: development and first results using electrical resistance tomography.

    Schlaberg, H. I., Baas, J. H., Wang, M., Best, J. L., Williams, R. A. & Peakall, J., 5 Sept 2005.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  18. Published

    Modelling rheological and turbulence regimes in kaolinite-rich sediment flows.

    Silva Jacinto, R. & Baas, J. H., 1 Jan 2007.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  19. Published

    Effect of biological polymers on mobility and run-out distance of cohesive and non-cohesive sediment gravity flows

    Sobocinska, A. & Baas, J., 1 Oct 2022, In: Marine Geology. 452, 106904.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  20. Published

    Clast-rich debrite and slurry intervals sandwiched within co-genetic turbiditic sandstone: origin, lateral extent and baffle potential.

    Talling, P., Amy, L., McCaffrey, B., Baas, J. H., Peakall, J., Stanbrook, D., Clark, J., Wynn, R., Gee, M. & Masson, D., 1 Jan 2001.

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaper

  21. Published

    Experimental constraints on shear mixing rates and processes: implications for the dilution of submarine debris flows

    Talling, P. J., Peakall, J., Sparks, R. S., O'Cofaigh, C., Dowdeswell, J. A., Felix, M., Wynn, R. B., Baas, J. H., Hogg, A. J., Masson, D. G., Taylor, J. & Weaver, P. P., 1 Jan 2002, Glacier-Influenced Sedimentation on High-Latitude Continental Margins. 2002 ed. Geological Society Publishing House, p. 89-104

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

  22. Published

    Reversed sediment wave migration in the Irish Sea, NW Europe: A reappraisal of the validity of geometry-based predictive modelling and assumptions

    Van Landeghem, K. J., Baas, J. H., Mitchell, N., Wilcockson, D. & Wheeler, A. J., 15 Feb 2012, In: Marine Geology. 295-298, p. 95-112

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  23. Published
  24. Accepted/In press

    Marine redox dynamics and biotic response to the mid-Silurian Ireviken Extinction Event in a mid-shelf setting

    Wang, Y., Wignall, P. B., Xiong, Y., Loydell, D. K., Peakall, J., Baas, J. H., Mills, B. J. W. & Poulton, S. W., 13 Mar 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of the Geological Society.

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

  25. Published

    Concepts and applications of fluvial sedimentology: Towards interdisciplinary analysis of process and product.

    Weltje, G. J., Hoogendoorn, R. M., Marriott, S. B. & Baas, J. H., 15 Nov 2007, In: Sedimentary Geology. 202, 1-2, p. 1-4

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review